


The Crossroads Bar

by Ch3rriBerri



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira is the prettiest girl in the entire world, Don't want to tag it as cross dressing so, M/M, Morgana is mentioned for a second, Ryuji thinks so too, Self Expression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 11:55:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11828238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ch3rriBerri/pseuds/Ch3rriBerri
Summary: What will happen when Ryuji decides to visit Akira at The Crossroads Bar?





	The Crossroads Bar

"Well, hello there~" Lala's voice rang with intrigue as the door shut behind a new costumer, a boy much younger than the usual patrons The Crossroads had the pleasure of serving. And by the looks of it, he was just as surprised at himself being there as everyone else was.

Nervously, and clearly for the first time in his life, he walked up to the bar and took a seat. The boy was continuously fidgeting in his stool, checking over his shoulder every few seconds to peak glances at the others that were in the bar as well, though none of them paid him any mind.

"So, sweetheart," Lala was leaning across the bar in front of the boy, hand on chin. "What can I get you?"

The boy was so nervous he barely managed to utter, "W-w-water, p-please..."

"Aw, honey, it's okay!" Lala reached her other arm out and gently pet the boy's own arm, to which he flinched. "There's no need to be so scared, we don't bite." She stood up straight and went to fetch him a glass of water, winking at him and saying, "Well, not hard~" before she disappeared.

Her absence relaxed the boy and he sighed in relief, thankful she didn't turn him away. Can you imagine how lame it would have been if he couldn't get into a bar that allows high schoolers in? He shook his head at the thought and before he knew it, Lala was back in front of him, placing a glass of ice water down on a coaster near him. 

"I'm Lala-chan, by the way." She held her hand out to be kissed, but the boy just awkwardly shook it. She giggled slightly at this. "I'm the owner." He nodded and took a sip of his drink.

Lala tended to a few customers, mostly sharing a few laughs with them, before she was at his side once more, cleaning a few cups from previous visitors. "So, how is it that a young boy like yourself heard about my humble business?" The boy almost choked on his water at the question and set it down shakily, his nervousness coming back.

"M-my friend, he told me about it..."

"And what is this friend's name? Maybe I know him?" She dried the cup and put it on its hook before starting in another.

The boy looked down at his hands, which were fumbling in his lap. "A-Akira..."

Lala stopped moving her hand in the glass, to which the boy made a questioning look at. After a second, she smiled brightly. "Nope, don't know him at all!"

"Huh, that's strange. He says he's usually here most nights..."

"Must be a different Crossroads, I suppose. If I dare admit it, it's not the most original name." She let out a very humorous and infectious laugh, making the boy chuckle and even had the other customers crack a smile.

"Yeah, must be..." The boy fell quiet after the laughter subsided.

Lala gasped dramatically, leaning in close and covering her mouth with one hand, as if to make sure the others wouldn't hear a juicy secret she had to tell. As she spoke her tone was soft and quiet. "You know what?"

The boy actually found himself interested and leaned in to listen to her. "What is it?"

"I think there's someone who would get along perfectly with you!" Her voice raised sharply in pitch and volume as her sentence came to an end, causing the boy to hold his ear in comfort.

"Kira-chaaaan~! Can you come here for a moment? There's someone I'd like you to meet! ♡" Somehow, the boy could actually hear a heart in her words, but he decided not to question it much.

"Yes, Lala-chan? What is it?" From a back room a beautiful girl with glasses and a gorgeous kimono appeared, bowing to the boy when she noticed him. "Welcome, sir, we hope you enjoy your stay." 

The boy was even more of a nervous wreck, floored by the girl's beauty. His words failed him, only weird grunts coming from his mouth, and he wished that the floor would swallow him whole. To this, the girl laughed and the boy swore that his heart stopped for a few seconds.

"There you are, Kira-chan." Lala put her hands on the the girl's shoulders and took her to the side of the bar that the boy was sitting at, placing her at his side. "I want you to go on a date with this boy!"

Both of them turned to her and simultaneously yelled, "What?!" Their faces were beyond hilarious and Lala would have laughed at them if she wasn't currently in a mission.

"You heard me, Kira-chan! I want you to date this boy! It only has to be for a few hours, so don't worry, I won't let him try anything!" Lala suddenly gave the boy an extremely threaten glare, making him jump out of his skin.

"Lala-chan, may I speak to you for a moment, please?" The tone Kira spoke in was sickly sweet and honestly it scared the boy more than Lala's tone did.

"Fiiiiine. Why do you always have to ruin my fun, Kira-chaaaan!" Lala wore a pout on her lips.

"Just get in the kitchen, Lala-chan..." Kira began to push Lala into what the boy assumed was the direction of the kitchen, before she turned back to him. "Oh, we'll be right back, sir! Sorry about that!" Before the boy could respond, they were both gone.

The boy could hear what sounded like arguing, though not serious, from the kitchen and he tried his best not to listen. Though, he failed.

"...can't like this!"

"...ourse you can! ...'re beautiful!"

"He won't... not in this..."

"He will... loves you..."

After a few beats of silence, the boy began to panic. What were the they talking about? Not him... were they? How would they even be able to, since he just met them today?

The boy was so caught up in thought that he didn't notice that the girl had retuned. Or that she was talking to him. The only thing that pulled him out of his trace was when Kira waved her hand in his face. He blushed and immediately blustered out an apology for spacing out.

Kira gave him a very kind and comforting smile in response and it made the boy's heart feel like it was going to explode. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize for that. Especially since I'm the one that should be apologizing to you."

Kira bowed deeply and the boy began sputtering. "I sincerely apologize for the way Lala-chan and myself were behaving. It was unprofessional and disrespectful to you, and for that, I am sorry."

"I-it's okay, really! You don't gotta say sorry to me!" Kira looked up at him, examining his face, and the boy couldn't help but think she looked extremely cute. (He noticed that he also felt a sense of familiarity from her expression, but didn't know why).

Kira stood up straight and smile softly at him. "If you say so. But, I feel as though I should still make it up to you. I'm working still, so I can't leave, but would you like to share a drink with me? If that's too imposing, I apologize."

"N-no, that'd be great!" The boy laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, looking away to hide his blush.

The other continued to smile at him. "Wonderful! Is there anything in specific you'd like to drink? I might be young and not allowed to touch the alcohol yet, but I can make some pretty mean virgin drinks!"

The playful tone in her voice made the boy feel a lot more relaxed and he chuckled softly. "Whatever you recommend, I'm sure I'll love it."

The sincerity in his tone made Kira blush slightly and she nodded. "I'll be right back! Take a seat whenever you want." The boy nodded as well and the two parted ways momentarily.

The boy, feeling brave after such a nice encounter with the girl, decided to find a seat behind the sparkly drapes that separated the back of the bar from the front. Despite how late it was, it was surprisingly empty, which the boy was glad for. He settled for a small booth on the right side and waited, trying to look as calm as possible. He also failed at this.

Fortunately, within a few minutes Kira had returned, bearing two glasses and a pitcher with a red substance that had chunks of something in it and a lemon slice on each of the rims.

"Hello, again." Kira smiled at him and served him his drink, as well as herself, before setting down the tray and taking her place across from him in the booth.

The boy took the glass and examined it. "So, what is this?"

"A sangria. Usually it has wine, but since it's a virgin drink it's basically just fruit punch." She held her drink out to him, smiling. "To new friendships."

"To new friendships." They cheered and took a sip of their drinks. 

When finished, the boy let out a sound of surprise. "Wow, that's really good! Usually I don't like sugary stuff, but this is amazing!"

Kira blushed slightly and hid her face behind her glass. "Thank you, I'm glad you like it."

The boy took another sip, relishing in its deliciousness, before returning his full attention to the beautiful girl sitting in front of him. He was honestly still surprised that someone so pretty existed and actually wanted to talk to him. "How'd you end up working here, anyway?"

"Well..." Kira looked away, and the boy didn't know why. "One of the customers, actually. Her name's Ohya. She's usually here, but she wasn't today. I had met her by chance a few weeks ago and she introduced me to Lala-chan. The rest is history as they say, haha..." Kira looked slightly nervous and took a sip of her drink.

"What a small world, my best friend knows a lady named Ohya who comes here a lot too. Maybe you know him? Ah, but probably not, since Lala doesn't."

"Most likely. Other teenagers don't usually come in here anyhow..." Kira looked increasingly upset, but changed the topic. "A-anyway, I never asked you your name!"

"Oh, right. It's Ryuji."

"Ryuji, hm? I like it! It's very strong and tough sounding, like you!"

Ryuji blushed a deep red and chuckled. "Nah, not really. 'Ma said she named me that because she liked how it sounded."

Kira held Ryuji's hand softly, giving him a look that he didn't quite understand, but he could at least tell it was good. "I think it's a very good name, Ryuji."

"Th-th-thank you! I'll tell her that!"

Kira chuckled and pulled her hand away, taking a drink to hid her own blush before speaking again. "Are you sure she'll be happy hearing about her son's name being complimented from a strange girl he met at a bar?"

"R-right, I guess not..."

"I'm just teasing, Ryuji~ I'm sorry if I upset you, Lala-chan has rubbed off on me a quite a bit, it seems." She lightly pat his forearm, trying to reassure him.

"She is an interesting one, that Lala. What was all that 'date' stuff about, anyway?"

"Ah, she..." Kira sighed. "She believes that I don't 'put myself out there enough'. To put it bluntly, she thinks I keep to myself too much and that I'll probably never find love because of it."

"That's horrible!" Ryuji's sudden anger startled Kira slightly, but she shook her head.

"It's alright. She's not wrong, after all. Outside of Crossroads, I'm actually very shy. I don't have a lot of friends, if I'm being honest. But..."

"But what?" Ryuji's face was genuine and showed that he actually cared about what she had to say. It made Kira's heart sing.

"But the ones I do have, I love very much. And I would do anything to protect them. If I had to, I would give my own life for them, just to keep them safe." After Ryuji didn't say anything to that, Kira backtracked. "O-oh, I'm very sorry, that's probably very intense and inappropriate to say..."

"No, it's amazing."

"What?" Kira was genuinely surprised.

"To have the kind of dedication and love for someone, it's incredibly rare. But the fact that you have that, it's amazing. I'm sure that whoever your friends are, they know that and feel the same way."

Kira smiled. "Thank you, that's very kind of you go say. I hope they feel the same way as well."

"I have someone like that in my life too, actually." Ryuji had finished his drink at this point and poured himself another.

That had piqued Kira's interest. "Oh? And who is this person? They must be really something if they can make you feel like that."

"Trust me, he is. He's the coolest guy I know. The guy I was talking about before? His name is Akira and he's my best friend in the entire world." The fire in Ryuji's eyes as he talked about his friend warmed Kira's heart and he continued.

"We've only known each other for a little while, but it feel like we've known each our entire lives. Maybe even longer, like in previous lives in stuff. Normally I don't believe in that crap, but with him, I can. With him, everything is just so much... more. Of everything. More fun, more happy, more exciting. There's never a dull moment when he's around. 

"He's honestly the greatest guy I've ever met. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's like, the best possible thing. He always knows what to say and I really admire him for that, especially since most of the time I'm just an idiot. He's just so... so cool. I don't know how I got so lucky. I could go on and on about him, he's just the greatest guy in the entire world." When Ryuji finished talking, he was out of breath.

On the other side of the booth, tiny sniffles could be heard, which sent Ryuji into a panic. "Shit, are you okay? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He sat on Kira's side of the booth and embraced her from the side, trying to comfort her.

"It's j-just that... you love him so much." She wiped her face and look at Ryuji, her sparkly tears still reflecting in her eyes. "He very lucky to have someone like you in his life, and I just know he feels the same way."

A slight blush arose to Ryuji's face, both from the words and how cute Kira looked, and he couldn't control himself. Gently, he leaned forward and kissed Kira's lips. 

When their lips met, both of them swore that they felt sparks fly. Their bodies felt like they were on fire. Kira griped Ryuji's front and Ryuji wrapped his arm around Ryuji's back, only to feel her pull away shortly after.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that..." Her face was incredibly red and she hid in her hands.

"Hey, it's okay." Ryuji took her hands and kissed the top of them, smiling at her. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, even if you do look cute like that."

Kira laughed softly and thought for a second before leaning over and kissing Ryuji's cheek. "It is getting late though, you should probably head home. Your mother's probably worried about you."

Ryuji looked around and could tell that it was indeed late; they were the only ones back here after all. He nodded and slid out of the booth, offering his hand to Kira. She gladly accepted and followed him out.

Kira walked Ryuji to the door, taking him outside in the cool night breeze, and they both stood there, smiling nervously and blushing as they remembered what happened only a few moments ago.

"Thank you, for tonight, Ryuji." Kira smiled at the boy, holding her hands politely in front of her.

"I should be thanking you, Kira. I had a really awesome time tonight." She nodded and they stood there in silence again.

"Well, I should be getting back inside. I don't want Lala-chan to yell at me for being outside with some strange boy." They exchanged a laugh before Kira turned to to head back inside.

"Wait, Kira." Ryuji grabbed her wrist gently and she faced him once more.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Can I, um... Can I k-kiss you again? Please?"

Kira giggled at how cute he was being since he was nervous and nodded. Ryuji smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her again. It was just as magical as the first and left them both breathless.

"I-I guess I'll see you around, Ryuji?"

"Y-yeah, you will."

Kira smiled brightly at his determination and headed back inside, waving to him before she closed the door.

When he knew for sure that she was gone, Ryuji became to not-so-quietly celebrate. He was whooping in joy and fist pumping the air. The entire train ride home he couldn't stop smiling every time he remembered the kiss.

As for Kira, when he went inside Lala was standing there, her arms crossed, eyebrow raised, and a big, fat "I told you so" smile on her face. "So, how was it?"

Kira sighed dreamingly. "It was magical."

"Aw, you kids keep me young!" Lala pulled the other into a hug.

"Thank you, Lala-chan. There's no way I'd be able to do that normally, so I really appreciate you helping me."

"Of course, Kira-chan. I've been in that situation before, and what I would have given for someone to give me a wig and a dress." The two gave a hearty laugh to that and broke the hug shortly after.

"I'll finish up the dishes and change in a bit. Do you think you can let Morgana know that we're leaving soon?"

Lala nodded. "Of course." She left to the back room and Akira realized that he hadn't stopped smiling since Ryuji left.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to do that again, but this time I'll be 'Akira' instead of 'Kira-chan'." The thought made Akira smile even harder and he hurried to clean up, excited to see what text he would get from Ryuji in a few minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd mention that Akira is wearing a wig, he has mastered speaking in a different pitch, and when he works at The Crossroads he often takes on his "Kira-chan" counterpart! He had told Ryuji about The Crossroads before, so him showing up that night was pure coincidence! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Also if you want to see me scream about idols and P5 follow my twitter @onesmilenow you might regret it.


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